iPhone Home Button Not Working or Unresponsive? Let’s Fix It

If your iPhone home button is not working or has become unresponsive, we have some possible fixes to share with you. We have come across that some users do seem to have persistent issues with the home button on iPhone 5. And we all know the story behind the home buttons in older devices like the iPhone 4 and 3GS where it used to get clogged and unresponsive after a while.

Well, the thing is, it happens. Maybe due to a calibration defect or perhaps due to the dust and the moisture after prolonged use. While reasons aren’t clear, the solutions can help you fix an unresponsive home button on your iPhone 5/4S/4 and other iOS devices.

Recalibrating The Home Button

Recalibrating the home button appears to fix the issue for a majority of the users. It happened with our iPhones here. When the home button gets a bit tricky and unresponsive, this is what we usually do:

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Open an app. Any default iOS app. (Weather, Clock etc.)

Hold the Sleep/Wake button (Power) till the ‘Slide to power off’ appears

Now press and hold the home button till the slide goes away and you get to the home screen.

(You’ll notice that the app is closed)

This should fix the calibration issues and make the home button work better. Of course, while the thing works well, the calibration appears to wane away after some time. For some, this happens within a week or so. For some, this happens after several weeks or months.

Cleaning/Dusting

Sweat causes moisture. There’s dust all around. And with the kind of little spaces that the home button’s edge has, it is very much possible that the unresponsiveness is due to dust clogged in it. Usually, repair takes up a lot of time and money so you can try cleaning the thing yourself.

One of the best ways to clean the home button without having to play around with the screws is to just press the button and air dust it. This usually blows away some of the clogging dust and helps you get back some good responsiveness with the home button.

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Accessibility/AssistiveTouch

Accessibility has an option called Assistive Touch. You can enable this to have a virtual home button on the screen. To enable this:

Open Settings

Go to General

Now, scroll down and tap on Accessibility

Scroll down again and tap on AssistiveTouch

Turn it ON

A small black button shows up on the bottom-left of the screen. Tap this, and you’ll have the home button listed amongst three other options.

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Reset/Repair/Replace

If all else fails:

Reset: go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset All Settings. Have a data backup just in case.

Repair: If you really need the home button back but none of the above methods work for you.

Replace: If it’s a new iPhone within the replacement period, go ahead and get it replaced right away!

Jignesh Padhiyar is the co-founder of iGeeksBlog.com who has a keen eye for news, rumors and all the unusual stuff that happens around Apple products. During his tight schedule, Jignesh finds some moments of respite to share side-splitting contents on social media.